Junction-box.



No. 830,317. PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906. E. T. GREENPIELD.

JUNCTION BOX.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.28, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT ormon- `Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1906.

Applicationfiiea'october 28.1904. serialNazsazav.

To all whom it may concern,.-4

Be it known that I, EDWIN T. GREENFIELD,

va citizen of theVUnited States, residing at Monticello, in the countyof Sullivan and State of New York, have made a new and useful Inventionin Junction-Boxes, of which the following is 'a specification.

My invention is directed particularly to improvements in. housejunction-boxes for use in connection with house-wiring with armoredconduits or cables; and it has for its o bjects, first, to devise a boxwhich will be simple, cheap, and eliicient and in which the clampingattachments mag be readilya plied and detached with t e aid of simp etools, such as a screw-driver; second, to -provide detachable means forclamping or holding the ends of inleading armored conduits or cablesthereto; third, to provide simple meansofclamping or securing the boxitselfv to a gas-pi e extending from the ceiling or side wall of) a roomthrough the bottom of the box and in such manner as to-adapt the samefor use with gas-pipes of different diameters. i My invention will befully understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 isa plan view of a junctlon-box embodying certain features ofmy lmproyement both for securing the'ends of lnleadmg armored conduitsor cables and of securing the box itself to the ceiling or side wall ofa room, a art of one ofthe walls of the box and of tliie supportingmeans belng broken awa and a art of the latter shown in dotl 1g. 2 is aplan view of a modiiied` ted ines. form of the invention which isprovided with external integral semicylindr'ical lnlet-necks, showingalso the ends of a flexible armored cable and an iron armored conduit assecured thereto and a sectional view of a as-pipe to which the box issecured by one orm of my novel clamping means. F1g. 3 is a sectionalview taken throu h Fig. 2 on the line Z Z and as seen looking t ereatfrom the bottom ltoward the top of the drawing in the direction of thearrows, showing Vin elevation a sustaining gas-pipe and aexible armoredcable as secured thereto. Fi 4 is a detail plan'vlew of the under sideof t e clamping means illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is adetail sectionalview taken through Fig. 1 on the line X X and as seen lookinv thereatfrom left to right in the direction o the arrows, a flexible armoredcable being illustrated as connected to by screws in any.

the bottom of tlie box. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional-view taken throughthe bottom of the box illustrated in Fig. 2 and upon the suppositionthat the opening in the bottom thereof is closed and that the lu s forsu portin the box by a as-pipe o relative y small iameter are bro enout. Fig. 7 is a detail sectional View similar to Fi 3, illustrating amodified manner of app ying the clamping means exterior to the box.

` In a prior application filed by me on the 24th day of'October andbearing Serial No. 229,7 24 I have disclosed a junction-box embod 'ngclamping means for securing the ends o inleadirg armored conduits orcables to inlets or" openings therein through the agency of devices inthe nature of a .duplex c amphaving at one and the same time forwardmotion toward the bottom of the box and lateral motion toward twoconduits or cables to be clamped thereto.l The present invention isdirected to' an improvement upon the before-mentioned box in that I havedevised individual clamps for each individual armored conduit or cableand an individual clamp or supporting means for sustaining the entirebox either fromI the ceiling or a-side wall', the clamping means beinggenerically not unlike that disclosed in the efore-mentionedapplication, but s ecificall different in that, as before state each inividual provided wlth detachable clamping means of the nature indicated.

The invention will be fully `understood by referring to the drawin s indetail and first to Figs. 1, 2, and 5,whic illustrate one modified formthereof, Vlike numerals of reference representing like or equivalentparts wherever used throughout the specification. 1 represents thejunction-box roper, which ma in each instance be provi ed with a de tacable or removable cover, secured thereto referred manner. The boxillustrated in Vtli for1l attachment either to the ceiling or side watending directly through the screw-holes shown in the bottom thereof, orwhere the same i's designed to be attached to a gas-pi e it may beeffected throu h the agency o a tubular connector 2, having a flange atone end, which flange is of the contour shown in Fig. 1, the exteriorcurvatures thereof corresponding to the curvature of the inlet-openingsfor the conduits, the outwardly-extendart to be connected to the box ise drawings is designedl This isA effected either by screws ex- IOO IIO

' ing ends of saidl flange being provided with screw-holes correspondingWith the screw- Y holes in the bottom of the box, the arrangeythe bottomof the box.

ment being such that When this connector is inserted from Within withthe tubular. art of the connector extending outward t rough the bottomof the box it may be secured directly to the interior thereof bythescrews, as

shovv'n, and to the gas-pipe by a set-screw or in any preferred manner.The cylindricalparts of the connectors 2 may be of various internaldiameters, adapted tot gas-pipes of; variousv exterior diameters, 7 7are inclined surfaces cast integralvvith. the corners and bottom. ofIthe box, and 8 represents individual, clamps having each an inclinedsurface 11, corresponding to the surface 7, and a vertical.;

the externallyrojecting extension, at the outsideof, the ottoni. is thenconnected to the dependent gas-p pe rby a set-screw or in any preferred:manner. he curvilinear poi;-

tions of the flange of the connectorji2 constitute semicyhndricalextensions for the inletsor o enings 3 3, so that when the armored conuits or cables are entered through the inlets or openin s Sand the clams 8 secured in the corners o the box Withtlhe. cylindrical. necks orextensions'surrounding the ends of the armor the screws 1 3 arenecessaril in the slots 12 and corresponding'screW-ho es 6v and` drivenhome, thereby causing a Wedgin action between the clamps and the latei'afaces of the ends ofthe conduits or cables andthe curvilinear .faces ofthe connector 2 1namanner Whichwill be apparent on inspection of. Figs.1 and 5 and in such away as t0v firmly gri .or securethe cable and causethe c Lindric necks or extensions 10 to effectua ly plotect theinsulation of any conductors Whic may be drawn into or outofthe box.

In the modified form of the` invention shown, in Figs.. 2 to 6,inclusive, I prpvjde inclinedsurfaces 7, extending entirely around theinner and outer edges of the-box, by casting the same in the mannershown, and particularly inrFig. 3, so that the clamp shown in Fig. 4 maybe secured to the inner side-Wall surfaces of the box by the screws 13,extendingthrough-the slots l2'fromwithin, and the endsof thearmored:ycables14 and conduits 19 firmly grippedl through. the lateral action oithe clamps inding the same firmly against.

a building integral external semicylindrical necks, the cylindricalextensions surrounding and fully protecting, as before', the insulationof the conductors. In this form of the invention the'means forsustaining the box from the ceiling or side Wall through 'the agencyof a'gasipe is in the nature of a clamp Which'is on the other side adaptedto bear against a similarly-inclined face 15 on one side of a lug castintegral with the interior'of the bottom ofA the box, (see Fig. 6,) 17being a vertical slotl and 18 an adjusting-screw, the arrangement beingsuch that the clamping action between the box and the gas-pipe issimilar to the clamping action of the parts alread7 described, so thatits operation and effect wi l be readily understood on ins ectionv ofthe drawings. For the pur ose o attaching the box to a different-sizegas-pipe I have in this instance provided the opening 4 in the bottom ofthe box for the largest-sized gaspi e to Whichthe same is to be secured,and W en the box is constructed integral lugs 5 5 are cast thereinhaving their inner surfaces of acurvature adapted to receive thesmallestsized gas-pipe it is designed to use, said lugs being relativelythin as compared to the bot-I tomof the box, as will be obvious on insection of Fig. 6, so Vthat veither one or botho the same may be brokenout With pincers or a punch. c

In both forms of the box illustrated in the drawings there 'are showndetachable disks in this disk in the manner shown in Fig. when,

no gas-pipe is available for supporting the Same.'

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated amodiiied form of the side-Wall clampsillustrated in Fig. 2 in that the clamp 8 is arranged for attachmentonthe outside Walls of the box, so that the clamping-surface 11 of theclamp 8 will bear against the outer inclined face 7 and force the clampdownward, thereby producing the v same clamping effect upon the end ofaninleading armored conduit or cable as would be produeedfby the likearrangement of. the corresponding parts internallydisposed, as

' shown in Fig. 2, such a modified arrangement being the full equivalentof that disclosed in said Fig. 2.,

I do not limit my invention to the especial details of constructionhereinbefore described and hereinafter claimed, as a number of thefeatures thereof might be de arted from and still come Within the scopeof the claims; nor do I limit the invention in its application or useWith armored conduits or cables, as obviously the same might be appliedwith other Well-known types of inclosed conductors or cables. v

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A junction-box provided With inleading o enings through the bottomthereof and inc ined surfaces cast integral with the corners and saidbottom; together with individual clam s, one for each opening, having anincline surface corres onding to one of the before-mentioned sur aces,with slots and adjusting-screws for securing said clamps in position.

2. A junction-box provided with inleading o enings for armored cablesand individual c amps therefor provided with means for giving to saidclamps movement against the sides of the cables; together With meansintegral with said clamps for rotecting the insulation of the cablesfrom a rasion'.

3. A junction-box having an opening in its bottom for receiving asupporting gas-pi e and integral internally-projecting lugs or adaptingthe same for use with pipes of different diameters; in combinationwithadetachable closing-disk and a clamp adapted to secure the box tothe pipe or to hold the disk in place so as to close the opening whendesired.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

EDWIN T. GREENFIELD.

Witnesses:

C. J. KINTNER, M. F. KEATING.

